Running Mama Cooks

Friday mornings are my weigh in days for weight watchers, and I lost another pound this week. I am officially ONE pound away from my pre-pregnancy weight! So what do I do to celebrate? Bake cookies!!

These are not just any cookies, they are from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes. You would never know that these are low fat cookies, they are absolutely delicious. Think I can eat just 2? Probably not. Hopefully I'll burn it off at Hot Yoga tomorrow morning, my newest fitness obsession!

Low Fat Chewy Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
Recipe from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes
2 cookies per serving, 5 weight watchers points +

1 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unpacked brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups quick oats
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°; line two baking sheets with parchment paper or use a silpat.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.

In a large bowl, with a mixer, cream together the butter and the sugars on medium speed.

Add the egg, followed by the applesauce and vanilla extract.

Working by hand, stir in the flour mixture and the oats until just combined and no streaks of flour remain; stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop heaping tablespoonfuls (approx 3 tbsp each) of the dough onto prepared baking sheets, flattening each cookie slightly (I forgot to do this). Bake for about 10-12 minutes, or until cookies become light brown at the edges.

Let cool on baking sheet for 3 or 4 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container so you don't eat them all in one sitting!

Makes about 30 cookies roughly 3 tbsp each.

I thought I was done with baking for the season but then we had a snow day! Plus, I got a bunch of new cookie cutters from Santa, so I had to try them out.

Cecily and I made these today, it was a lot of fun!

Rolled Sugar Cookies

Recipe from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter, softened
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:

1.In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).

2.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.

3.Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

Cookie Icing

Recipe from cooks.com

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (sifted after measuring)
1 tablespoon low-fat milk (skim or 1% is fine although I have made this successfully using 2% fat milk)
1 tablespoon corn syrup (more if needed to reach desired consistency)
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
food coloring (use colors of choice)

Directions:

1 VERY IMPORTANT; the confectioners sugar must be sifted before using.

2 In a bowl beat the sifted confectioners sugar with milk until smooth.

3 Beat in corn syrup and almond extract until smooth and glossy (if icing is too thick add in a small amount of corn syrup).

4 Divide into as many separate bowls as desired.

5 Add in different food coloring to each bowl beating/whisking until the intensity is achieved.

6 Paint the icing over the cookies using a brush or dip the cookie edges into icing (this will set quite quickly).

7 Place cookies on waxed paper to dry.

And as a side note, Happy 5 months to my boy!

Last bit of baking before Christmas. I can't believe its 2 days away!! I decided to make Peanut Butter Blossoms because, well, they are awesome! And they are Zach's favorite.

I used the recipe from Hershey's. They came out great.

Peanut Butter Blossoms
Recipe from Hershey's

Ingredients:

48 HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Milk Chocolates
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Granulated sugar

Directions:

1 Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from chocolates.

2 Beat shortening and peanut butter in large bowl until well blended. Add 1/3 cup granulated sugar and brown sugar; beat until fluffy. Add egg, milk and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually beat into peanut butter mixture.

3 Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar; place on ungreased cookie sheet.

I am definitely not a natural baker and these are a bit on the complicated side (for me anyway!!) but Cecily and I had a blast making them today. They actually turned out great! Time consuming but not too hard and really fun to decorate!

Cecily and I have been baking some Christmas cookies this week. Of course that means I have been eating a lot of cookies!! New years and a new diet isn't far away, might as well enjoy the season, right?!

This recipe comes from Cecily's preschool teacher. Last year for Mothers Day they put together an adorable recipe box filled with recipes from the whole class. These are Mrs. Johnson's Snickerdoodles.

Snickerdoodles

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup butter soft
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

Mix Sugar, butter, and eggs. Stir in flour cream of tartar, salt and baking soda. Chill dough. Roll dough into walnut sized balls. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Roll cookie in the mixture and bake at 375 for 10-12 mins.

With all these apples in the house it is tempting to whip up a fattening pie or cake, so I am trying to find some low fat/cal alternatives. I came across this apple crisp recipe and decided to give it a try. At 3 weight watchers points per serving (can you tell I have some baby weight to lose :D) you can't go wrong! We topped it with a bit of fat free cool whip. Yum!


Low Cal Apple Crisp
Adapted slightly from Lower Calerie Cooking

Ingredients:

•4 cups peeled, cored, sliced golden delicious apples (3-4 medium apples)
•1 Tbsp granulated sugar
•2 tsp lemon juice
•3/4 cup rolled oats
•1/4 cup flour
•2 Tbsp brown sugar
•2 Tbsp melted butter
•1 tsp ground cinnamon
•1/4 tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2. Place the apples evenly in the bottom of a 11x7 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

3. To complete the crisp, in a medium-sized bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir until the mixture resembles of course meal. Top the apples evenly with the oat mixture.

4. Bake the crisp at 350°F for 30 minutes.

Serves 6

It was a beautiful fall day today so my family and I went apple picking. When we got home, Cecily and I baked these apple muffins. I adapted the original recipe to make it lower in fat (4 WW pts per muffin) and it didn't effect the taste one bit. They were yummy!

Since I have a ton of apples, I will be baking more soon!

Apple Muffins
Recipe adapted from Food.com

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup brown sugar, packed,divided
1/4 cup vegatable oil
1/4 cup applesauce
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup apple, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup low fat buttermilk
1/4 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon cinnamon, divided

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 325-degrees F.

2 Grease muffin tins or use paper liners.

3 In a large bowl, blend 3/4 cup brown sugar, oil, egg and vanilla with a wooden spoon.

4 Add flour, baking soda and salt.

5 Stir in apple, buttermilk, walnuts and 1/2 tsp cinnamon and mix thoroughly until combined well.

6 Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.

7 In a small bowl combine remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar with remaining cinnamon.

8 Sprinkle over muffins.

9 Bake for 30-40 minutes or until muffins are browned and toothpick comes clean when inserted in middle.

I don't have a single good reason why I needed to bake cookies this afternoon except that everyone has been raving about this recipe and I had to try it. That and maybe I can play the pregnancy card :)

I think Leslie said it best, "Hot Damn! These cookies are INSANE!!" You must make them too.

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe by The Brown Eyed Baker

Makes about 16 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

This is my go to dessert for a big crowd, and it brings back such great memories from my teenage years. My friend Carolyn's mother used to make this for us girls when we would have big sleepovers. It is one of my cherished recipes from the recipe book I received at my bridal shower.

My mother is having a party at her house tomorrow night, so I put this together today for one of the desserts. If you love chocolate, you'll love this!

Death by Chocolate
Recipe from Carolyn and Lori Purwin

Ingredients:

1 pkg. Duncan Hines dark chocolate cake mix
3 pkg, Jell-O instant chocolate pudding mix, prepared
2 large containers of Cool Whip
6 Hershey Skor Bars*
Kahlua

Directions:

Bake cake according to directions in any pan. When cool, break into chunky pieces. Pour liquor into cake to let it soak for a couple of hours or overnight.

Make pudding according to directions. Wack Skor Bars against the counter to break into pieces. In a trifle bowl, make layers as follows - cake, pudding, whip cream, candy. Repeat until top layer is whip cream and Skor bars to decorate.

*I used Heath bits to save time this time, but I prefer it with the Skor bars. I added some mini chocolate chips because the bits were lacking chocolate

Looks like Running Mama really can bake! These cupcakes might not be the prettiest, but the cake was delicious and moist and the buttercream was perfect, if I do say so myself.

Chocolate Cupcakes
Recipe from Hersey's

Ingredients:

2 cups sugar
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water


Directions:

Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

Line muffin cups (2-1/2 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups. Heat oven to 350°F. Fill cups 2/3 full with batter. Bake 22 to 25 minutes. Cool completely. Frost. About 30 cupcakes.


Vanilla Buttercream Frosting
Recipe from Allrecipes.com


Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 tablespoons milk
3 drops food coloring, or as needed (optional)

Directions:

Cream room temperature butter with a hand mixer, the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or a wooden spoon until smooth and fluffy. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until fully incorporated. Beat in vanilla extract.

Pour in milk and beat for an additional 3-4 minutes. Add food coloring, if using, and beat for thirty seconds until smooth or until desired color is reached

This year Zach's birthday falls the day after Easter, so we celebrated today with our whole family on Easter Sunday. I wanted to make him a fun birthday cake, and was excited when I came across this recipe.

It came out very moist and yummy. I really liked how subtle the Guinness flavor was while giving it a unique taste.

Chocolate Guinness Cake
Recipe from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 cup Guinness beer
10 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 cups superfine sugar
3/4 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking soda

For the frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese (no need to soften)
5 tbsp. butter, softened
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour the sides of a 9-inch round springform pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper. In a small saucepan, combine the Guinness and butter. Heat over medium heat until the butter is melted. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the cocoa powder and sugar.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the sour cream, eggs and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until well combined. Add the Guinness mixture to the bowl and mix until incorporated. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda. Add the dry ingredients to the bowl of the mixer and mix on low speed until just incorporated.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes back clean. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack. Once cooled, remove the sides of the pan.

To make the frosting, combine the cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Cream on medium-high speed. Add the powdered sugar to the bowl in batches, beating on low until just combined and then on high speed until desired consistency is reached. For a stiffer icing, add more powdered sugar. Frost cooled cake as desired.

For Cecily's birthday cake tonight, I decided to do something a little different. She will have a regular cake for her birthday on Sunday during her bowling party, and since she is a huge cookie fan, I made her a giant cookie cake. It was so good.

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake
Adapted from Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients:

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a 14-inch, light colored, round pizza pan with parchment paper and grease the parchment paper.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs, beating well after the addition of each.

In a bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt and mix with a whisk. Add to the butter mixture, mixing to incorporate, and add the vanilla extract. Fold in the dark and white chips and the nuts. Spread across the bottom of the prepared pan and bake until the edges are golden and the cookie is set but the center is still slightly soft, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Decorate with icing and cut into wedges to serve.

I can't take credit for the decoration. I started it and quickly realized that isn't my strong suit. Zach fixed it and made it adorable!!

Cake with her candles. 4 years old and one for good luck

When I came across this recipe on Bella's Bistro, I knew it was the perfect dessert to bring to "Girl's Night In" at Allison's house this weekend. It reminded me of hanging out with girlfriends as a teenager, eating cookie dough straight from the container. This grown up version was delicious and really easy to make!

For an appetizer, I brought the Ham and Cheese Pretzel Bites that I prepared on Friday and they were definitely worth the work because they were a HUGE hit!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip
from RecipeZaar inspired by Bella's Bistro

Ingredients:

1/2C. Butter
1/3C. Brown sugar
1t. Vanilla extract
1 (8 ounce package) Cream cheese, softened
1/2C. Confectioners’ sugar
3/4C. Semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
1/2C. Chopped nuts (optional)
Nilla wafers and/or Graham crackers sticks for dipping

Directions:

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves.

Remove from heat, whisk in the vanilla and set aside to cool.

Beat the cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar for 1 minute. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute.

Stir in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate.

Garnish with additional chocolate chips or nuts, if you choose.

When Allison told me about the meal she was making for her Father in Law's birthday, I asked her to take some pictures and give me the recipe as a guest blog entry. It sounded so fancy and special, I wanted to share it here! Not only do I not have the skills in the kitchen that Allison does to pull off a meal like this, I am allergic to shellfish, so I very rarely prepare it.

Coquilles St. Jacques
Adapted from Emeril

Ingredients

•1 pound bay scallops
•1 small onion, sliced
•1/2 lemon, sliced
•1 bay leaf
•1/2 cup dry white wine
•1/2 cup water
•3 tablespoons butter
•2 tablespoons minced shallots
•1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
•6 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
•2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
•1/2 cup milk
•1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
•2 tablespoons minced green onions
•1/2 cup heavy cream
•1/2 cup shredded Gruyere
•4 puff pastry shells, baked


Directions

In a large skillet or saute pan, combine the scallops, onion slices, lemon slices, bay leaf, wine, and water. Bring to a simmer and gently poach the scallops until just firm, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon. Strain the scallop cooking liquid into a clean container. Reserve the scallops on a plate.

In a clean large saute pan, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, until tender, about 4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the pan the mushrooms were cooked in and melt over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 2 minutes, to form a light roux. Slowly add the strained poaching liquid, whisking constantly, and cook until thick, about 2 minutes. Add the milk, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, and whisk well. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 minute. Add the green onions, and simmer for 1 minute. Add the cream and Gruyere, stir well, and remove from the heat. Fold in the scallops and mushrooms, and pour into the prepared pastry shells. Serve immediately.

Allison's comments

It was really yummy! I made french onion soup to start, then the coquilles st. jacques with asparagus and then apple crumb pie for dessert. I took a picture of the main dish (sans asparagus) and it came out looking okay but definitely doesn't do it justice! It was a time consuming thing to make but so freakin' good!

Apple Crumb Pie
From allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 (9 inch) pie shell
6 cups thinly sliced apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. Place sliced apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with lemon juice if desired. In a small bowl, mix together white sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Sprinkle mixture over apples. Toss until apples are evenly coated. Stir in raisins and walnuts if desired. Spoon mixture into pastry shell.

3. In a small bowl mix together 1/2 cup flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter or margarine until mixture is crumbly. Sprinkle mixture over apple filling. Cover top loosely with aluminum foil.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 25 to 30 minutes, until top is golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.

Allison's comments:
It came out really yummy...next time I think I might make more of the crumb topping - it covered the apples a little too thinly for me :)

We started a new Thanksgiving tradition this year by running the Turkey Trot 5k in Morristown. Zach and I woke up early, dropped Cecily off at my mom's house and headed to Guinty Field (a 5k course we've run 2 other times) to run. We met up with Kathy and her two daughters and joined almost 1500 others in this fun Thanksgiving race. My time was 33:15, definitely not my fastest 5k, but since it was 4 days after a half marathon, I'll take it!

Our Thanksgiving consists of two stops, my Aunt's house for my family and my in law's house. Fortunately they are only 10 minutes apart, but we do a lot of eating on this day!! Good thing we ran in the morning!

My contribution to Thanksgiving was a Pumpkin Cheesecake. I decided to try Paula Deen's Recipe after watching her make it on her Fall Harvest show.

Cecily and I had the afternoon free and since I just read this blog entry on Living Eventfully, we decided to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies since I had all the ingredients on hand.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Yields 60 cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs, at room temp
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 scant teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 cups (12-ounce bag) MILK chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet since that is what I had)
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper (if you bake frequently and haven't tried parchment paper yet, do yourself a favor and buy some.) and set aside.

Using a stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth.
Beat in both sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy.
Beat in the eggs 1 at a time.
Mix on medium high for 3-4 minutes.

Turn speed on mixer to stir or low and add the vanilla and pumpkin puree.In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.
Slowly mix the flour mixture into the batter in thirds until just incorporated.

Do not over mix.

Stir in the chips.

Scoop the cookie dough by heaping teaspoons (i use a small cookie scoop. cookies are more uniform.) onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 13-16 minutes, or until the cookies are light golden brown around the edges. (i pulled them out right at 13 minutes and the were soft and perfect. your oven is different so watch them and do not over bake.)Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks.

Cecily helping me scoop the dough onto the cookie sheet